With South Africa’s electricity rates set to increase by 9.4% this year and the country’s unstable grid prone to outages, home energy storage systems are expected to become quite popular in the region. Tesla is aware of the opportunity and opened an office in the country earlier this year to develop the market for its ‘Tesla Energy’ products: the Powerwall and Powerpack.

Now we learn though a new report from Bloomberg that Enel Green Power SpA, the renewable energy unit of Italy’s biggest utility, is offering a “home-power kit”, which includes a Tesla Powerwall, to the South African market. expand full story

Last month we reported that Tesla was in talks to build a Gigafactory in South Africa according to the Western Cape Executive Council for business opportunities. The news came a month after Tesla hired former GreenCape CEO Evan Rice to lead Tesla Energy’s effort in the country.

Now we learn that Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille confirmed that Tesla is opening a new office in the city and that the company should announce its plans for South Africa “soon”. expand full story

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk first announced the Gigafactory project, he said that even though the planned capacity of the factory is equal to the entire global production of lithium-ion batteries in 2013, the world would sill need around 200 more giant factories of similar size to support the auto industry’s transition from fossil fuels to electric.

Local South African news is reporting that Tesla is planning to open an office in the country in early 2016. The company will first aim at developing the market for its ‘Tesla Energy’ products: the Powerwall and Powerpack.

There’s currently no word on Tesla bringing its vehicles to South Africa. expand full story